Autism

By Dr. Brown Autism is a brain disorder affecting approximately 7 per thousand children in which there is a difficulty in social relations, difficulty in communication, and a lack of imaginative and creative play. There seems to be an undetermined genetic tendency towards autism and it occurs more commonly in boys (approximately 75% are males). Although there have been numerous claims of association with vaccine administration, this has been studied extensively and there does not seem to be any correlation. There has been an increase in the diagnosis of Autism recently probably because of better diagnosis, rather than an inherent increase in the development of Autism.Good resources to learn more about Autism are: First Signs: www.firstsigns.org is an American organization to help parents and healthcare providers diagnose as well as treatment options i.e.: what to do. and The National Autistic Society (U.K.): www.nas.org.uk (A wonderful website by a British Organization. This website gives a lot of information to help parents understand what Autism and Asperger's Syndromes are.) AUTISM CHECKLIST / SCREENING FORM There are various "checklists" being developed to try to screen for autism. A very good one that can be used for children as young as 6 months of age can be found at: www.brookespublishing.com/store/books/wetherby-csbsdp/checklist.htm

If you download this form, you can score it by assigning the following points: none-0, sometimes-1, often-2. For multiple items such as question #20, assign points: none-0, 1-3 gets 1 point, over 30 gets 5 points, etc. Score and tally the points on page two of the document. You can then refer to the tables on page 3 for your child's specific age to see if there may be a concern. Please note that for low prevalence conditions such as autism, there frequently may be an "overcall", but this checklist probably won't "undercall". In other words, a test may be falsely positive - predicting that a child might have autism and the child really doesn't have the condition. However, if there is concern, let your doctor know. You can also use another form on our website and bring it in for the doctors to score and review:Developmental Screen for 15-18 month old children